Jester
by Self Insert
Summary: Minato gets sent back in time after a bad end. Also, he's a psychopath. Rated M for Minato's gory imagination.
1. Chapter 1

"Don't tell me you've all decided to let me live… You're all going to risk your lives on a battle you can't win. But, you're the only one here right now, so…

"I'll say this one more time. If you kill me, Tartarus, the Dark Hour, and your memories of the battles will all disappear. Tomorrow, you'll wake up a normal high-school student. You'll be able to live in peace until the moment of the Fall. But if you let me live, you'll spend every waking moment until that day in fear of your inevitable death. Nyx cannot be defeated… It's useless to fight her…"

The room was still for a few seconds. There, I stood in front of my so-called friend. Hah. We'll see what happens next.

"…Are you still thinking? Or, have you already made up your mind?"

I have.

I whipped out my Evoker as fast as I would in battle. Mochizuki Ryoji never even saw it coming.

He staggered backwards as the Evoker tore a hole in his head. Black ichor splattered on the wall behind him, and he fell to the ground with a dull thud, still bleeding out of his head.

…Damn, there's no satisfaction in this at all. I thought he'd bleed as a human, not as a Shadow…

* * *

In the Velvet Room, where time and space are irrelevant:

"Our guest has fulfilled his contract, and must now face the consequences of his actions. Still… I wish I could have seen the rest of his potential. He was by far the most interesting guest we've had here, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed." Elizabeth sighed, as the memories of the boy washed over her mind like the waves meet the shore. The time they went to Paulownia Mall, and Naganaki Shrine, and… well, those would be just memories now. She frowned. "Still, I myself did not expect that he would kill him, and so brutally at that…"

Igor nodded. "Perhaps I misread his initial arcana. Maybe he wasn't a Fool as much as he was a Jester. But with all that said and done, he still has to pay the price for his actions, even if it means dooming all of humanity… not like there was a choice in that." The long nosed old man gave a theatrical sigh as he leaned back on his seat. "With the rest of humanity about to die off, perhaps it is best that we close up shop –"

An explosion from outside the Velvet Room rattled the elevator they were in, stopping it in its tracks. Alarm klaxons sounded as red lights turned on, giving the room a purple hue.

"Elizabeth! Margaret! Theodore! On the defense, now!" With those words, two more velvet-clad beings sprang into shape. Holding their grimoires, they started letting their magical energy flow into the books as the Personae within were about to cast the most powerful spell in their arsenal. Each stared at the Velvet Room's door, waiting for the intruder to burst through.

"My, I was never the type to try to make such a dynamic entry…" came a voice from behind all of them.

The three Velvet Room attendants all turned around and fired their spells. Three simultaneous bursts of pure light like miniature suns suddenly appeared on the figure.

"Stay on your guard! Something that dangerous could still be alive!" Margaret said.

"Surely nothing could have withstood three Megidolaons at once?" Elizabeth said, lowering her grimoire just a little. However, as the light faded, the woman was still standing – now sprinting – towards Elizabeth, and with her right hand she lifted Elizabeth up by the neck and slammed her into the ground. With her left, she held a glowing orb. Elizabeth was bruised but she wasn't bleeding, and she tried to punch the attacker in the chest.

"Enough!" Igor cried out. "I was wrong to have ordered my servants to attack so hastily, however, I was alarmed that you would create such a stir in this room long forgotten to most." He stood up and bowed before the woman, and Margaret and Theodore stood down, putting away their grimoires. The woman offered her hand to Elizabeth to help her up. Elizabeth took it, trying to crush as many of the woman's fingers as she could, but if the woman felt anything she didn't express the pain.

"I'll be brief here, Igor. I need the contract that the boy signed this year." The woman gave the orb she was holding to Elizabeth. "Keep it, it may come in handy. Now as I was saying, I'm here for that contract because I need to break it."

"Ah, but you are the Archduke of Contracts. Surely you have a copy of this contract in your castle?"

"Nay, for if I need to break a contract I need either the original copy or any of the signees to do so, but since Arisato Minato is dead and I can't be bothered to bend more rules than I have to, I decided to go here instead. Sorry for the explosion; I'll fix what I broke on my way out." She put a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Except, of course, for the contract."

Igor walked to his cabinet and took out the contract gently, as if it were made of glass. With both hands he presented it to the Archduke, who took off her left glove, took out her quill, and pricked her left ring finger with it. Blood trickled out of the wound and the quill drank of it until the wound closed. With the quill full, she sat down on Igor's chair and began to write over the contract in a language anyone can understand but nobody can pronounce or repeat to another. Over Arisato's name she signed her own, in Roman letters, but in such calligraphy that nobody could know her true name. As she dotted the "I" in her name, the paper started to smolder from that point, slowly spreading until the whole thing was consumed in black fire.

"And with that, I can perform the next step of my plan. Would you care to watch, Igor?" the woman said, and she took out… something, from herself.

Igor gasped. "But that's the…!"

"Indeed," she said, and snapped it in two.

* * *

A double honk of the train's horns woke me up. Over the train's speakers, the train conductor spoke. "…We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai…"

Oh… A vision of a blue butterfly. Oh dear, am I… Was it all a dream?

"…This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island."

Okay, focus, Minato, I told myself. You're a genius by now so you should be able to figure out what's happening. When did I ever leave Gekkoukan High School? And didn't I kill Ryoji? Did I run away from them afterwards – nah, that would imply I was too much of a coward to not stand up for what I do.

Time travel? The idea is absurd, but just to be safe, I checked my cell phone. It is set to 06 Apr 2009. The big glowing characters tell me that I'm either being pranked, or I really did travel back in time. Then again, Shadows were originally exploited as something for time travel.

I checked my pockets. A small pocketwatch, a ballpen, and some string, along with my music player, playing "Burn My Dread"… That's basically it.

The train stopped and I stepped onto the platform. I looked at my pocketwatch. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. My cell phone and my music player die on me and the world took on a green tint. The humans around me turned into coffins, with what appears to be blood leaking out of some of them. Well, I'm pretty sure that the Dark Hour is back.

And that's a huge moon, as usual. Wish I had a weapon right now. If there were any Shadows, or even Strega, I may as well have painted a huge "Kill Me" sign on my back right now.

I ran to the dormitory. If I at least had a sword! On the way there I saw a coffin on the street side. Hah. Must be some drunk guy or a hobo. I don't see the problem in standing the coffin upright. Maybe it'll get them back on track with their life. Alternatively, I could have been just waiting for the Dark Hour to end and have this slop fall to the ground. Maybe the hard concrete will teach him a lesson.

Eventually, I reach Iwatodai Dorm. I use the key given to me and unlock the door with a twist. As I step in the lounge, the voice I've been expecting speaks.

"Welcome." Oh Pharos. The only Social Link I completed. He's such a nice, cryptic little boy. Too bad I killed him in the future… or was it my past? It gets complicated. He continues. "You're late. I've been waiting a long time." Does this imply that this part of me was not aware of time reversing itself? He was separated from me before I went back in time, so perhaps. And then he held out the contract to me. "If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract. There's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions." Last time I was in this situation I was scared, I admit. I read what's written on the contract again.

_I chooseth this fate of mine own free will._ Though there's a post-it attached to the contract. Wait, what? It's handwritten in English, in slightly messy handwriting. _The future must be. Don't screw up this time_, it says.

Okay, that is honestly creepy. Pharos gives no indication that he's aware of the post-it note on the contract… I'm not entirely sure if this loophole will work, but I sign it in one of my pennames just to be sure.

_Yuuki Makoto_. Surname first. If only I knew how screwed up that decision would make the rest of my life…

"Very well… Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing won't make it go away. And so it begins…" I think he had a grin like the Cheshire Cat at that point, and he might as well have been, because he disappeared like he melted into the darkness.

"…Who's there?" Yukari said. Well this brings back memories. Now, should I tell them that I came from the future or not…? Perhaps not. It would only make Ikutsuki more suspicious of me.

She stared at me. "How can you be… But it's…!"

I messed around a little this time. "Oh, the extra hour every day? I'm used to it." Technically, true. "I did a lot of things at this time of night." No need to mention that I killed the most Shadows while they gawked. "Why do you have a gun? Does everyone in this dorm get a gun for their protection?"

Yukari looked stunned, and I had a smile on my face. If I had the choice it would be a smirk but I can't afford to look hostile and unbalanced… not here.

"Wait!" Mitsuru shouts out. She steps down from the stairs and strides next to Yukari. And as if on cue, like last time, the lights turned on at that moment.

"Please, have a seat," Mitsuru said. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late."

"The train got delayed. My apologies," I reply.

"No problem. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." She looked at me intently. "But you… have already been aware of the Dark Hour?"

I told the truth. "I've been aware of this Dark Hour, as you call it, for the past year of my life. I mostly used it as a guideline to tell me to get some sleep, because I get tired much more easily even just studying at that hour, though I exercised most during this Dark Hour of which you speak." I didn't break eye contact or fidget in the slightest. Only those who are weak enough to need to lie do that.

"Who's he?" Yukari said.

"He's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm."

"Is it okay for him to be here?" Yukari looked at me as if she were afraid for me.

"I think so. Yuuki here is already aware of the Dark Hour. We'll just have to see if he has a Persona."

"Of course I have a persona," I said. They stared at me like I had just grown another head.

"Wait what?" Yukari said.

"A persona is the mask one puts on for the sake of interacting with different people. For instance, you would act much differently towards someone who bullied you than to someone who you like and gave you chocolate for Christmas or Valentine's day." It wasn't every day that I could appear to be more academic than Mitsuru, so I continued, just to have fun. "It also applies to your persona as a student, and your persona as one who obviously stays up at this hour of night with a gun in hand, apparently waiting for a threat. We all put on different masks to interact with other beings. Exposing one's true self to others could be… threatening, so to speak."

I gave a pause at that. The time I shot Ryoji…

Yukari looked confused, but Mitsuru just laughed. "I see you've been brushing up on Psychology. But no, we talk of a different sort of Persona." She stood up. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? You'll see what we mean by then."

I remain seated, and put a hand to rest under my chin. "I have one last question."

"Ask away," Mitsuru said, sitting back down.

"Why did you call me Yuuki?"

Mitsuru looks bemused. "Because that's your name, of course. Yuuki Makoto. It says so in the forms that were sent here as well. You are enrolled to Gekkoukan High School under the name Yuuki Makoto." I lost momentum with that, and she stood up again. "If that will be all, I think we can get some sleep now."

I stood up as well. "But it's not my name. My name is Arisato Minato."

"What a kidder," Yukari said, and laughed. "Come on, I'll show you to your room. Your things should be there already."

I follow her. "Thanks, Yukari," I said.

"No problem," she replied, and we head up the stairs to the end of the hall on the second floor. "Well, here we are. Pretty easy to remember, huh? It's right at the end of the hall… Uhm. Any questions?"

"None," I said.

Yukari fidgets with her fingers a little, and says "Uhm… Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

"Yeah," I said. My persona should be able to stop me from giving my intentions away.

"I see… Never mind, then." Yukari smiles at me and I smile back. "Well, I'd better get going."

"Good night, Yukari," I say.

"Er… Good night then, Makoto." She walked down the stairs, and I entered my room. The box full of my things were now boxes. Hm.

I open them up. Oh god, they're still here. The hairs on the back of my neck raised in both excitement and terror. My most favorite weapon out of all the swords I'd gotten. The Deus Xiphos. All the other weapons I had gotten my team. The Juzumaru, among other katanas from Tartarus. A couple of bows for Yukari. Aegis's guns, Akihiko's gloves. All still here. And… about ten wallets full of cash, amounting to about three million yen.

Though all the other things I had, like the food, and the cards that were stuck with it… They got spoiled on the trip, so I'm not touching those without three-mm thick gloves. Though I think I'll save this odd morsel for a certain fat bastard.

I also saw a small brown cardboard box on my study table. I cut the tape on the top with one of Koromaru's knives and saw a collection of CDs in their original, unopened cases by some group named Kalafina. A post-it on the top CD in the same pen, apparently, but in Japanese this time, read _For your listening pleasure_. …Some of these CDs also come from the future, even after I went back in time. _Seventh Heaven_, _Red Moon_, _After Eden_, and _Consolation_… Wow. I'll listen to these when I have the time.

I was tired, so I went to sleep without even putting a single sheet over myself.

I didn't have any dreams of the Velvet Room or anything strange that night, and I woke up on time. A little after I had washed up and taken a bath, Yukari knocked on my door.

"Hello? Are you up?" I chose to ignore her, and she knocked again. "Hello! Please answer the door, or I'll get in trouble!" Like I care. Still, I had to open the door sooner or later.

"Good morning," I said, in my most informal tone.

"Good morning," she replied. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." I put my hands in my pockets, trying to fish for my pen, just in case.

"Oh, good. Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. Are you ready to go?" Her voice wavered a little, a sign of hesitation.

"I can find it myself," I said. I was still busy trying to rip the CD's songs onto my music player, and it had been going on for the better part of my morning.

"Oh, are you sure?" There was that wavering again. Then she spoke more firmly. "But you don't wanna risk being late the first day, do you? Come on, hurry and get ready!"

Oh boy. Here we go again. My hands were already itching to grab a sword and my Evoker. I need to kill some Shadows soon or I might end up summoning a Persona with an actual gun. Or someone else's Persona.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello. So to answer a few questions. The Archduke of Contracts is a reference to another video game. Should be easy enough to guess, I think.

In short, this is based on a New Game Plus from the Bad End where I decided to kill Ryoji. In that game I'd already maxed out every Arcana available at that point except for Fool (of course), Priestess, Empress, Lovers, and Fortune, but for story purposes we'll assume that Minato (Makoto now, thanks to that new movie) was actually a psychopath. He was at Level 74 when I got the bad end, and the latest fusion I had made there was Michael, who, without Heaven's Blade, was useful only as Weapon Fusion fodder.

Any questions? Do leave a review, please. It's really the only motivation I have for writing.


	2. Chapter 2

Yukari and I were standing beside each other in the train, holding on to the overhead handles because all the seats were filled. I only really noticed it now, but the girl dresses with style. Still… I guess I don't like pink too much. I'm more of a blue person. That choker, though… If only I could get it to be a little tighter on that neck of hers…

"We have to take the monorail to get there." Yukari snaps me out of my train of thought. "Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?"

I shake my head. "Where I studied last year, we also needed to use a train, but to get to the places in the school we needed to be in, we had to climb story upon story of stairs."

"Ouch. No wonder you look so fit." Yukari's eyes looked me over. Getting Lovers to the highest rank might be easier now… "Look, look!" Out of the window, the shore had ended and all I could see was sea.

"This is my favorite part… when it feels like you're gliding over the sea." She had her eyes closed, with a small smile on her face as she was probably imagining herself actually gliding over the sea. She looked at me in the eye and said "Our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. We walk from there. Ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? It's an artificial island. They built our school right in the middle." Well going back on that detail it's pretty obvious why Tartarus would replace our school during the Dark Hour. "Oh look, you can see it now!"

I can't say I missed this place. Ugh, people. I'd really rather be studying, or improving my looks. I can't stand it when they force their company on me. What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.

"Well, here we are… Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here!" Oh I sincerely doubted that. We entered the main building and took off our shoes, replacing them with the regular indoor shoes. I straightened out my coat, took out my MP3 player, and set it on shuffle as I put my headphones on.

_By falling in love and learning pain_

_We become human_

Hm. Maybe I should buy an iPhone. This isn't money that SEES got from Tartarus, it's "mine" technically, so I can spend it on what I want. Also, a deck of tarot cards. For fun.

Yukari was mouthing something at me, so I took off the right side of my headphones for a while. "You're okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left. That concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?"

"No, not really," I reply, and take my headphones off for a while.

"Hey…" Yukari said. Her eyes shifted to the side and she placed her hands in front of her. "About last night. Don't tell anyone what you saw or what you already know, okay?"

"Got it. See ya." I put my headphones back on. She mouthed "See you later" and walked off.

_In the sea of tears we were born in_

_how many times do people scream?_

I think I'm starting to like Kalafina. In any case, I skipped the bulletin board. I already know I'm in Class F anyway, and I headed directly to Ms. Toriumi.

"You must be the new student," Ms. Toriumi said. "Yuuki Makoto…"

"Sensei, I believe there's been a mistake," I said, brushing my hair away and looking her in the eye. "My name is not Yuuki Makoto, it's Arisato Minato."

"Well then, if you're not Yuuki Makoto, who would you be then?" She narrows her eyes at me. It's as if she's about to send me out of the office.

"Oh, my apologies. That was my pen name I just said." Technically true again, I just said both after all. "As a writer, I get confused sometimes with what name I use online."

"Oh, you're a writer! I'll be sure to search you up later." Her eyes widened and she looked at me with pride.

"Oh, please don't, I don't have much in the way of proper literature written just yet, Sensei." I shifted my eyes to the side and slouched a little bit more.

"Hm, well if that's what you want. Anyway… Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places. Let's see… In 1999…" I stopped paying attention. She still hasn't read my file yet. "I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand." Well she looks sincere… "I'm Ms. Toriumi," she continues. "I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

"Thanks," I said, in a flat voice. Perhaps she picked up that I was still apparently hurt by her bringing up my parents like that, because she continued in a more falsely cheerful tone: "Have you seen the classroom assignments? You're in 2-F; that's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon."

Yay, more time for me to get lost in this music. "Follow me," she said.

It took about half of Burn My Dread to walk to the auditorium. Principal is boring and I hope no teacher sees me listening to my music collection here…

A student poked me in the back. I jolt, before seeing that everything doesn't have a green tint and remembering that this isn't the Dark Hour and I'm not getting attacked by Shadows. I take off my headphones and pay slight attention.

"You came to school with Yukari this morning, right? I saw you two walking together." And so? "Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"

With the chance at a do-over like this, I made some new plans, so I said that she does.

"Man, I knew it… I mean, why wouldn't she? Wait, how well do you know her?"

"I hear talking." Oh crap, it's Ekoda. "I believe it's someone in Ms. Toriumi's class."

"Shhh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!" she said. I shrugged and put my headphones back on. The principal looks and sounds like a pig. Maybe it's because he sounds like Takaya. Note to self: Don't go in the same room with the Principal alone. One of us is going to die.

After the welcoming ceremony, I went to my classes. They haven't taught me anything I don't know already. The last time I was here, I paid attention to all my classes, so cut me some slack on that because I zoned out on this. It's all the same old introduction to everything. An introduction to the teacher, getting asked to introduce ourselves in homeroom, an introduction to math, physics, biology, et cetera. Boring when you have to go through it the second time. Though after homeroom, Junpei introduced himself. The guy can get annoying, but even I could sympathize with him when Chidori died saving his life. Yukari rolled her eyes at him as usual. She did put up with that dunce for much longer than I did. Hm, maybe I killed Ryoji just to get away from Junpei? Nah, even I found him sympathetic post-Chidori. And he got a powerful Persona after that.

Though I have to agree with Yukari. He can be a bother sometimes. After class she went to do something for her Archery club. I went home with Junpei. No, I stand corrected. Junpei dragged me off after school.

"Look at the jocks on their run. Say, you thinking about joining a club? You'd be joining as a new member, so you won't be able to apply for a little while." We were walking away from the front gate and I saw a bench a few blocks away. We started walking toward the bench, carrying our conversation there.

"Actually, I want to join the Kendo team this time around," I said. I wanted to get away from Kazushi, and last time he was on Track. I reversed and broke my Social Link with him before… Seriously, it's like that guy doesn't know when to quit! I kept telling him to just get some rest and take time off to heal his knee like any perfectly functional human being would do to care for his friends but no, he got mad at me and went off in a huff! There's also the fact that I am already good at fighting Shadows. I'm sure there are some differences in fighting Shadows and humans (mostly technical) but it can't hurt to learn, right? Besides, some of the experience might carry over.

"Nice! Well, I prefer baseball myself. I have a pretty good arm for batting, though my pitching could use some work."

"I know you do," I reply, remembering how powerful he could get when he was smacking Shadows with.

"Wait, how can you know how good I am at baseball if you've never even seen me hit a ball?" Junpei said, eyebrows furrowed.

Oh crap… have I slipped up any hints that I'm from the future to anyone? "Uh, it's the way you walk. Your right hand tends to swing a little bit more than your left, an indication that you swing it more and it has a little more strength than your left." I'm lying through my teeth and I hope he doesn't pick up on it. Must maintain facial control and passive, casual mask…

"Oh," he replied. "Never noticed that. You must be pretty smart, uh…" Before I could introduce myself, he yanked my ID out of my breast pocket and looked at my name there. "Yuuki Makoto, huh? Nice name!"

"It's not," I said.

"Not a nice name?" Junpei said, with a grin on his face. We've already arrived at the bench, and he sat down on it. "Well then, what would be a nice name?" Not good. Being seated while others are standing up implies power.

"My real name is Arisato Minato," I said. I take my seat beside him. "I'm serious. Apparently, since birth, my name on all official documents has been changed to Yuuki Makoto." I was looking him dead in the eye right there. For a few moments, Junpei just stares back at me. Hopefully he gets it. Then he started laughing.

"Oh my god! That's hilarious, Makoto! That is one serious case of chuunibyou you have there!" I resist the temptation to put my head to my hands. "I like you already. Tell you what, you joker. Let's go to Hagakure. My treat."

I'm not saying no to free food, so I go there with him. After I finished up the bowl he treated me to, I was still feeling a bit hungry so I ordered Dan Dan Noodles with my own money. Shame I couldn't eat Dan Dan Dan noodles, but I couldn't risk knowing about something I shouldn't know about yet. The difference between the two is like the difference in performing brain surgery with a kitchen knife and a scalpel.

Wait a minute… have I slipped up before? I retraced what I did and where I went yesterday. I got into the dorm… The memories are a little too hazy for me to remember the specifics. I hope I didn't slip up.

It was getting dark out, and the dormitory supposedly has a curfew of 7 PM, but they abolished that when everyone in the dorm was aware of the Dark Hour and shadows anyway. We just told Ken that he was too young to be allowed out late at night, and that people could mug him. Haha.

"Oh, welcome back," Mitsuru said as she sat on the couch. She was reading a magazine of sorts. When I tried to get a closer look she subtly adjusted so that I couldn't see the title, and when I sat down across her she said "By the way, the Chairman would like to talk to you tomorrow evening, so make sure you're here at that time, okay?"

"Sure," I say. Ikutsuki… he would be a problem to deal with. No way out of this one, I think. If I tell them that destroying the 12 Arcana Shadows are going to bring about the end of the world, then they won't, but the number of the Lost will increase. If we do destroy it, then Nyx will show up and the world will end. Easy enough choice, but… How will I persuade my lackeys?

I'll main, burn, and kill that bridge when I get there. Besides, fighting Shadows is fun in itself. Though before that…

"Hey Mitsuru-senpai," I said. "Can I go out to Paulownia to buy something?"

Mitsuru looked up from her magazine. Somehow I could just imagine her putting on glasses right there. "Sorry, Yuuki, but curfew rules are rules. It's dangerous here at night."

"Is that because of the Dark Hour?" I said, leaning back into my chair. To demonstrate power, always look more relaxed than the other person. Winston Churchill performed some negotiations while he was naked in a bathtub, after all.

"…Actually, you have a valid point. Okay. Just get back here before midnight." I could just imagine her taking off said glasses…

"Okay, thanks!" I said. I stood up and opened the door outside.

When I came back, I had a brand new flip cell phone with a good music player, and better bass-oriented headphones. Much cheaper than an iPhone. This was, in general, a good day.

I headed to my room and went to bed. I wondered when I'd be dreaming of the Velvet Room again… Maybe Igor had some answers regarding getting thrown back in time. In the meantime I lay my head on my pillow and went to sleep.

"Master Yuuki Makoto…" Igor said. I was drifting through nowhere to a blue door. Well, here we go again. It opened of its own accord and I found myself sitting across Igor.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor said. Damn, that creepy long nose and those bloodshot eyes of his were cool. And pointed ears! I've always wondered what he was. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He gestured at Elizabeth. "This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you," she said. I watched in amusement. I already knew who they were, and in Elizabeth's case I knew her a little too well, so it was strange that her turtleneck vest was actually hugging her neck instead of being loose as I recall it. Other than that, the platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and perky breasts were still the same.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," Igor continued. "Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place… But of course you've entered here before, Master Arisato Minato. Or as you are called now, Yuuki Makoto."

I do my best to look relieved, but I was expecting that already. "Alright Igor, if I may ask, why was I sent back in time? I distinctly remember shooting Ryoji in the head, but that's all I do remember…"

Igor somehow gave an even creepier grin. Note to self: learn how to give a creepy grin like Igor does. "Your contract was broken forcefully by the Archduke of Contracts. It allowed you not to face the consequences of your actions, however, do note that we here at the Velvet Room remember your exploits and actions." He leaned in closer to me, still wearing that grin. "The new contract obliges us to professionally treat you as a new being under the name of Yuuki Makoto, so all is forgiven."

"That's another question I have," I said. I could never relax in this room; I was trying to get as far away from the long nose as possible. "Why are people calling me Yuuki Makoto now?"

Igor laughed. "The Archduke of Contracts is far more powerful than anything you may ever see."

"Indeed. She appeared here before March saw the end of humanity and broke the contract. In the process, I and my brethren fought her due to a misunderstanding. This," Elizabeth said, and brought out a glowing orb the size of a pea, "was an on-the-spot creation of hers that absorbed and still currently retains the power of three Megidolaons, cast by myself, Margaret, and Theodore in an attempt to remove the intruder. I sustained injuries during that encounter, and I am still in the process of healing, so I'm sorry, I cannot give you access to the Persona Compendium just yet…" She loosened her turtleneck and I think I saw bright red marks on the side of her throat.

"That doesn't answer my question just yet, Igor. Why are people calling me Yuuki Makoto?" I said, cocking my head to the side.

"As her name implies, the Archduke of Contracts rules over every contract. Perhaps she was playing a prank on you. If you ask me, the contract does state that you chose this fate of your own free will, and perhaps choosing another name was part of the contract." He had a bored look on his face now, and was resting his head on his hand.

I nodded.

"Hold on to this," Igor said, and handed me the Velvet Key. It was shaped like an old-fashioned key, with a ring at the end and two teeth on the other. On the key's edge, written in Roman lettering, was "Makoto Yuuki". Well, I better get used to this new name, I told myself.

"Don't fret," Igor said. "Some of your close friends may actually remember your real name, Master Yuuki Makoto. That is… if you have any friends. If I may, your Social Links from last time were simply in horrible condition."

"I know," I said. "I'm not fool enough to waste a second chance like this."

"Ah! Thank you for reminding me. I have definitely misread you once upon a time, Master Yuuki Makoto." He reached into his inner breast pocket and took out a set of Tarot Cards. Laying them on the table, he bade me to pick one.

I got the Fool. One in seventy-eight chances.

"I believe that you are not really a Fool, so to speak," he said, and plucked the card from my hand. He flipped it over so that it faced him, and said "No, I believe that you are more of this," and handed it back to me.

"The Jester?" I said.

"Until we meet again," Igor replied, ending the conversation and shunting me out of the Velvet Room.

* * *

Author's Note. I'm planning on having the Archduke of Contracts be a major character later on, but that really depends on whether I can pull it off or not. She is of the Universe Arcana, and I'm thinking of putting a Social Link for her. What do you guys think? Also, please review. Flames, constructive criticism, or just to say hi, anything. I'm bored out of my wits and I don't want to lose steam here.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next day without a problem, and I got to school without Yukari needing to accompany me. It turns out that I wake up the earliest, but I also take a long time when I shower so I only get to school about ten minutes before the first bell rings. I need to make sure my hair is perfectly in place, that my skin is flawless, and that I'm physically fit, though not to the point where I obsess over it like Akihiko. Just thirty pushups every morning.

I got to class, got confirmation that the Lost are starting to be from some loud girls with their morning chatter, had lunch, sneaked Junpei the correct answer to Maya's question (Utsubo Kubota, I've read some of his works), and then went back to the dorm.

Well, there's Ikutsuki in the lounge, I thought. Might as well get this over with. How… do I play this?

"Good evening. My name is Ikutsuki Shuji. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. 'Ikutsuki'… heh heh heh, hard to say, isn't it?" I find that saying names is much easier when you hate the person very much. I'm not sure if I was doing a good job of keeping this mask on in front of him. I must act the fool, I must act the fool, I must act the fool. The Fool is my initial Arcana and I can at least act it. Dammit, Minato, focus. "That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes. I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, we already have it in mind for you to stay in this dormitory, if that's okay with you. Iwatodai Dorm is co-ed anyway. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

Act the fool, and play along. "Why are you here?" I said, without a trace of hostility in my voice. At least I hope there was none.

"To welcome you, of course. Speaking of which, where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs," Yukari said, having only just appeared from upstairs. Woman, if only you knew this guy is putting up such an act.

"As diligent as always. Is she getting Yuuki's package?" Ikutsuki said.

"Hm? What package?" I asked. Probably an Evoker to test if I have a Persona… Well, if it means being able to kill things, I'm fine with it.

"I think she's getting an Evoker for Makoto-kun," Yukari said. She sat down beside me. Man, girls feel warm and nice.

"What's an Evoker?" I asked. Ikutsuki explained it quickly enough. I've heard this before, so no need to listen to it again. Point at own head. Pull trigger. Magical guardian thing that is called a Persona appears. I'm curious though. Do we really need these Evokers? Sure, Takaya looked like he was in pain when he was summoning his own Persona, but it just means that it's possible, right?

Note to self: Learn to summon Personae without using an Evoker, even if it kills me.

"So it works by pretending to shoot myself in the head." I said. I think the look on my face should speak for itself to Ikutsuki.

"I understand your concern, but of course it's not going to kill you!" Ikutsuki said.

"Well then, why don't you try it for yourself?" I said.

"I don't have a Persona of my own," he replied. "It won't work if the person doesn't have a Persona."

Of all the things I've learned from wacky Edogawa and my own research, it's that everyone has a mask, and therefore a Persona. Ikutsuki knows very well how to use a mask, so I am pretty sure that he has a Persona.

"Oh yeah?" I said. "Prove it." The only thing missing from this scenario is me actually handing him a gun to shoot himself in the head with. I smirked at Ikutsuki, who was already sweating just a little, though his facial expression was still of annoyance at me.

He was saved by Mitsuru walking down the stairs with a small suitcase in her right hand. If I'm correct, the inside is padded with interlocking blue eggcrate foam with an Evoker-shaped hole in the middle, where my weapon lies. She sat down beside Ikutsuki and opened the case. I was wrong about the contents. It was red eggcrate foam this time around. I guess some things can change.

"So this is an Evoker…" I said. "May I please have something engraved on this, Mitsuru-sempai?"

"If you're thinking about engraving your name or any details, you're not allowed to. We can't have something that looks and functions almost exactly the same as a firearm to be traced back to a student of Gekkoukan High School," she said.

"Oh, I'm not going to engrave 'Yuuki Makoto' on the side. I don't want it to be traced back to me either." However, I've wanted to put my name on my Evoker ever since I've seen one, so I continued, "I want to put my pseudonym on it. 'Minato Arisato', in Roman lettering."

"How about this, then?" Ikutsuki said. "During tonight's Dark Hour, we'll see if you can indeed summon a Persona with it. If you can, we'll have it engraved. Shouldn't take more than a day."

"Okay, but since this involves shooting myself in the head, I'd like it if you used an Evoker as well, Chairman."

Mitsuru gasped. "Yuuki! Are you really asking the Chairman to just shoot himself in the head like that?"

"No, Mitsuru, I think it's alright." Ikutsuki leaned forward. "You are already aware of the Dark Hour, are you not, Makoto-san?"

"Yes I am." I leaned back into the sofa and put my arms behind the backrest. Just a little closer and I would have been touching Yukari's back, but now is not the time for that… not yet.

For a moment I could have sworn that Ikutsuki's glasses gleamed. Maybe he doesn't use anti-glare lenses on purpose. "Then I propose a deal. In any case, I would like to invite you to join my club. Yukari, if you could please get the armbands?"

"Yes, sir," Yukari said, and stood up to walk upstairs. Huh. Didn't know we had an actual supply of those.

"We are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. SEES, for short." Ikutsuki smiled.

"Nice pun. So I take it you guys are the only ones who can see the Dark Hour?"

Ikutsuki paused for just a split second too long in answering. "You are the only ones who can see the Dark Hour as far as I am aware." I paused at that too, I needed to think. A pause too long indicates lying, especially when the person already replies quickly enough. Could he be aware of Strega? Note to self: Capture either Jin or Takaya, alive, and find out if they know Ikutsuki.

I gave my reply. "And so what do you want me to do about it?"

Ikutsuki clasped his gloved hands together, leaned forward on the table, and put his face behind the hands. His glasses were also reflecting light into my eyes. Well, that's one thing I didn't expect out of him. He just did a perfect Ikari Gendo pose.

"The name implies the function. Our job is to exterminate Shadows who are causing the Lost to appear." So far so true. I'm waiting for a blatant lie any time now… Note to self: When Ikutsuki reveals his greatest, easiest to destroy lie, I expose him to SEES.

"I see," I said, without really needing to see. "In essence, you're saying I get to kill in the name of humanity."

Ikutsuki jolted just a tiny bit. Again, demonstration of power… more like control in this one. I know about your dirty secret you clown, and I'm going to tear you apart one day. He let go of the Gendo pose and sat up in his chair, slightly slouched. "I wouldn't go as far as saying 'kill', Yuuki-san. We use the term Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, not Specialized Extracurricular Killing Squad. The acronym would sound off, to say the least."

Crass, but I laughed for the first time to an Ikutsuki joke. Ikutsuki let his shoulders down just a tiny bit. He's more relaxed around me now. We talked a little bit more, I about my travels across Japan and on occasion Europe and America, and him about how difficult it is to lead a double life as Chairman of the Board and coordinator for a paranormal activity investigations team.

"The Dark Hour's almost here," Ikutsuki said. He stood up and smoothed out his brown coat. "Are you ready, Yuuki-san?"

I stood up as well and pocketed the Evoker, keeping both my hands in my pockets. "Yes I am."

I figured that the best way to unnerve Ikutsuki and get him to slip up is to keep changing personality around him. Right before that I was genial, smiling, willing to talk, but at that moment I shifted to ready for killing. Stance slightly hunched over, whole hands in pockets, ready to whip out an Evoker at a moment's notice, steps natural, eyes observant and focused.

We got to the fourth floor and onto the rooftop. I pulled out my pocketwatch and looked at the time. About one more minute to go. I want to time this just right so that Ikutsuki sees and shits his pants.

Thirty seconds left. Mitsuru, Yukari, and Akihiko have already climbed up to the rooftop as well. Ten seconds left and I put away my pocketwatch, counting down mentally to time it just right.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

At the exact moment that everything turned green, I whip out my Evoker from my pocket and shoot myself in the head. If only music players worked at this time. The intro to Soul Phrase would have been good to listen to, if only to numb what comes next.

NO

NO

I CAN'T

I WON'T

DON'T LET ME DIE

I WILL NOT DIE

Back when I was but a timid new kid I flinched every time I pulled that trigger. The feelings are the same, it's only about getting used to it.

I felt a wave of energy pass through me, fluttering my clothes as if there were a wind beneath me. A light formed above me, giving rise to Orpheus. However, this time, he was colored differently. Instead of blue with a red scarf, Orpheus had much longer, red hair, and her armor was golden now. Her harp was also heart-shaped. Strange.

I control my emotions and make her pass without action. I suddenly felt tired, as if my arms had turned to lead, but I can't faint here, not like last time. Who's going to take care of the Arcana Magician? I can't let Ikutsuki sense my weakness here. I pushed on and grinned at him.

"I think it's your turn now, Chairman." I say, pointing my Evoker at him. He flinched a little, before I flipped the gun over so that the barrel faced me and the handle pointed upwards for Ikutsuki to hold.

"Well..." Ikutsuki said. He hesitated for a full five seconds before getting the gun… I am so tired right now, just get on with it and shoot yourself in the head already!

"Alright, here goes." Ikutsuki pointed the gun at his temple.

"Mr. Chairman, what are you doing?" Mitsuru asked.

"Ah," Ikutsuki said, lowering the Evoker temporarily. "This was part of a deal I made with Yuuki-san, after all. If he was willing to shoot himself in the head, then I would be too, if only once." He raised the Evoker again and pulled the trigger.

* * *

AN: I won't be able to keep this pace up for much longer, sadly. My apologies for the short chapter. Real life is starting to get in the way. Anyway, in case anyone is curious as to how far Minato got into Social Links in the year before, here it is:

Fool: 9. Killed Ryoji.

Magician: 9. Laughed his ass off at Kenji's circumstances. Reversed, eventually broke.

Priestess: 2. Refused to hang out with Fuuka any more after getting fed horrid shit.

Empress: 7. Was pursuing harem.

Emperor: 4. Got fed up with Hidetoshi's overbearing attitude.

Hierophant: 7. It became obvious to the old couple that Minato was just hanging around for free food.

Lovers: 6. Was pursuing harem.

Chariot: 5. Used common sense on Kazushi. Got fed up with self-destructive tendencies.

Justice: 9. Joked that Chihiro was guilty. She did not take it well. Reversed when harem was pursued.

Hermit: 8. Got creeped out that Toriumi was about to romance him.

Fortune: 4. Keisuke is a dork.

Strength: 4. Got sick of Yuko not having a spine.

Hanged Man: FAILED TO RESCUE MAIKO FROM TARTARUS.

Death: 10. The only one the story forces you to complete. Plus he likes Pharos.

Temperance: 3. Minato is homophobic towards males.

Devil: 1. Minato does not like getting ripped off.

Tower: 3. Minato thought Mutatsu just disliked him.

Star: 0. Minato quit the Track Team because of Kazushi before he could meet Mamoru.

Moon: 8. Did not pursue Nozomi when the Social Link naturally reversed.

Sun: 3. Minato thought he would die before the Social Link completed, so he stopped visiting.

Judgement: 0. Nyx Annihilation Team never formed.

Aeon: 0. Did not form yet.

I am aware that some of these choices are impossible. Let this serve as a lesson to me; always have the proper Persona when interacting with people.

Also, the story is Minato/Aigis for a reason. She appears much sooner than usual. I'm sorry, I honestly like that ship.


	4. Chapter 4

Ikutsuki's arm went down from his temple to slack at his side. The thing about people falling to the floor, fainting, is that they retain enough consciousness to not fall like a card tower. Ikutsuki put his left hand in front of him to prevent cranial damage and then lay on his side, with my Evoker still clutched in his right hand with a dead man's grip.

_SMASH_

What? Social Links already?

_Thou art I… and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond…_

_Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Jester Arcana…_

I did not allow myself to smile. Smiling in any form and for any intention would be giving my intent away. However, my body was so tired right there that I, too, allowed myself to fall on the floor. My eyes were so heavy, and it was no trouble at all for me to fall asleep. I wonder when I'll wake up…

Oh, the Velvet Room again. I found myself sitting on the soft velvet couch. In front of me were Igor, Elizabeth, and another strange woman who wasn't in velvet.

This is how she was strange: I can tell you that we were all in a huge elevator heading upwards. There was a strange clock with one hand that spun endlessly on the elevator's door, so to speak. There were doors to the sides of the elevator. Not doors attached to walls, but doors with doorframes, and a few of them were covered with velvet cloth, as if they were not to be used, or haven't been used for a long time. I was sitting on the soft velvet couch across Igor, whose nose was longer than his head. He had his hands partially clasped under his grinning face with his bloodshot eyes, and as always his black suit was impeccably clean. Elizabeth was… Elizabeth. She was dressed in that velvet elevator attendant outfit with circular patterns. She looked timid, and I could say a little frightened, even. The room was playing a recording of a woman singing a voiceless song that seemed to resonate even with my distorted soul.

But that woman.

There is no description for her besides "that woman". I can't even describe what she looks like. From the way she dresses to the way she moves, to her speech. I am almost positively sure that she did not talk in any language I know of, but I understand it as a blend of every language I know of. Of course at the time I knew what she looks like. I still do. It is just the simple fact that I cannot describe her at all. If I try to draw what she looks like, any representation of her falls short and looks absolutely wrong. Perhaps the only thing I can say for sure is that her presence absolutely clashed with the Velvet Room. She did not belong there in the same way that a penguin does not belong on the North Pole.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, Yuuki Makoto," Igor said. He chuckled. "I would like to introduce you to another one of our guests, the Archduke of Contracts."

Recalling what she said is hard, because she said nothing my ears could understand but I understood directly. To put it in my words, she said this: "No need to be so formal as to call me a guest, Igor. I'm more like a slacker here for now."

"The Archduke of Contracts is here to help you on your journey, seeing as with my last reading you have, for the most part, lost the Wild Card."

If I were drinking something, Igor's face would have been soaked in it. I found myself standing up. "I LOST THE WILD CARD!?"

"It is strange, yes, however, you are still entitled to the use of the Velvet Room and to my capacity to fuse Personae. In fact, you can still form Social Links just as easily as you did last time. However, they can't really be called Personae any more. In fact, I only sense exactly five Personae within you, which will awaken in time. One of them was Orpheus, as you already saw. And in the past year, you have also borne witness to Thanatos." Igor frowned. "Such a shame, but there is another, as of yet unexplored facet of your potential."

"That's where I come in," the Archduke said. Shouldn't it be Archduchess? "Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm called Archduke instead of Archduchess, it's because gender is irrelevant to one of my station. Elizabeth here," and she poked Elizabeth in the arm, whereupon poor Elizabeth nearly jumped from her skin "can summon the Personae from your compendium, but you have for the main part lost the ability to use them as parts of yourself." She sat in midair, floating, and her feet were off the ground by a few centimeters. "You are now required to make contracts with the entities your Personae are based on. Some would call them demons, but I for one dislike the term heavily."

"Contracts? What do I have to pay them?" I said. "Please don't tell me I'll have to sell my soul." I sat back down.

"No… For the most part you won't have to sell your soul. It's in a horrid state anyway, like a fine kimono torn up and used for rags. Nobody wants it. What most beings do want, however, is power and opportunity." She shrugged. "I as the Archduke of Contracts am partly responsible for ruining your ability to use the Wild Card by indirectly exposing you as a Jester, not a Fool. I need you to finish your journey for my own ends, anyway, so I'm also helping myself here." She said all of this in seven words in that language she uses. The information that language is capable of transmitting… I would like to study it one day.

"Do you have any questions, Yuuki Makoto?" she said.

"How do I summon these beings now?" I replied.

"Shoot the cards – the condensed contract you will be receiving for their services – with your Evoker. The family resemblance will be quite uncanny." She smiled. She wasn't as creepy as Igor, but that smile brought chills down my spine. It's like she was murdering me in her mind for asking stupid questions. Intelligent question coming up next.

"Why did you send me back?"

"I thought you'd be asking an intelligent question?" She closed her eyes and sighed. "I need you to finish your journey. I just told you that a while ago. Ending humanity puts my plans out of course. Any more questions?"

I gulped. One last then. "It's been bugging me for a while… Just who exactly are you?"

She did a cross between a giggle and a maniacal laugh. When she stopped laughing, she said all this in one word. "I am She who at the end of the world gives it new life. I am She whose life has been nothing but endless suffering. I am She who waits eternally for the conclusion to the grand story. I am the Daughter of Evil, the Archduke of Contracts, the Lord of Blood. I am the nightmare of those who seek power and the dream of the oppressed. I am the wellspring of hope for those in the pit of despair. I am the Creatrix. I am God."

_SMASH_

Wait what.

_Thou art I… and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond…_

_Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Universe Arcana…_

The Archduke smiled, and this one reached her eyes. "I see you've awoken a new power within you."

If I could faint in the Velvet Room, I would.

"I also have a gift for you," she continued. "A set of Tarot Cards. You may find it useful." She snapped her fingers and I suddenly felt a weight in my pocket.

I looked at poor Elizabeth. I think she's honestly scared witless of this person. She hasn't said a word during our entire meeting. I like her better this way, when she's cowed into submission.

"I think your time here for now is almost up, Master," Igor said. "The next time you come here shall be of your own accord. Until then, farewell." With that, he waved me goodbye. I stood up and found myself lying down with my eyes closed.

* * *

Author's Note: I prefer short chapters to long, long pages. I prefer showing that I'm not dead, inching along slowly rather than long stretches where my dear readers don't get to enjoy any new content. With that said, I hope I can keep this up. University is nearly upon me, but even if I fail you'll probably get at least ten chapters during Christmastime.

A big, BIG thank you to blarg7865 for reminding me to put an actual Jester Arcana social link. It's the Ikutsuki Social Link. And I hope that you took the one and only OC (not really, she's a multitude of oblique references to other religions and media) I will put in this story. How did you like the Archduke of Contracts?

Also, though poor Makoto is never going to find out for himself as far as I know for now, I liked the fanon that he is Shirogane Naoto's sibling so much I decided to put it here. And again, I'm pretty sure he'll never find out, but their grandfather is Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, which helps him make contracts.

Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

I opened my eyes and saw white. If I'm dead, I certainly don't feel like it, but I do feel sluggish. I blinked my eyes and I saw the white more clearly. Apparently it's actually the ceiling. Huh. I must be in the hospital again.

Someone shifts beside me. Yukari?

The blonde hair, blue eyes, and headphones on ears tell me otherwise. My eyes must have been like saucers.

"You are awake. Thank goodness," Aegis said. Beside her sat Yukari. They were sitting to my left, in front of the window, so I couldn't see them clearly. Sometimes light can obscure better than darkness. To me, they were like slightly detailed silhouettes.

"How do you feel?" Yukari said. "Did you know she's been sitting here beside you every moment she could?"

"Why are you here?" I said to Aegis.

"I wanted to stay by your side, Minato." Her speech is much more fluid than it ever was. Her voice could almost pass for human if not for its slightly crackly, digital quality.

"The Chairman was opposed to letting her stay here, but she insisted. Firmly." Yukari shook her head. "What on Earth did you do to get him to shoot himself in the head with an Evoker?"

"We made a deal, after all. Anyway, where am I?" I tried to get up, but I found myself still exhausted. It was like my body was made of wood.

"This is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It is a five minute and thirty second walk from the station," Aegis replied.

"The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted," Yukari added for my benefit. I've been through this before, but one thing bugs me…

"Wait. Who defeated the large shadow? The Arcana Magician?"

"How'd you know about that?" Yukari said, and looked at me like I just landed from the sky.

Think fast, Minato! "Wait, it was real?" I asked. Thankfully it came out mostly as if it were spontaneous. "I thought I was just dreaming…"

"Oh. Well aren't you the special snowflake, Mr. Psychic?" Yukari said with a smile on her face. "Actually, Aegis here defeated the Arcana Magician."

"I could not have done it without all of you helping," she answered. The blush on her face is so realistic, I think I can make out a few larger than usual capillaries on her cheeks. "Your healing skills were much appreciated."

"The fact that you have guns coming out of your fingertips was of great help. And look at me with my silly little bow… I couldn't even summon my Persona without getting my Evoker knocked out of my hand."

"I'm sure you did the best that you could, Yukari," I said, trying to pat her hand which was on the bed. "That's what counts."

"Well, it wasn't just me helping," Yukari said. "Mitsuru was coordinating us from the Command Room since at that point. Akihiko finished off the Shadow they were fighting and came upstairs to help, but he got injured by a pretty hard smack to the ribs. He's recovering."

Most everything is playing out the same… wait. Something's wrong.

"Yukari, who is this girl? And what did you say about guns coming out of her fingertips?"

"Oh!" she said. "I thought that the two of you already knew each other somehow, seeing as she was so insistent on staying with you." Aegis's face lost its cheer. I probably said something wrong.

"I shall introduce myself. I am Aegis, an Anti-Shadow Emergency Control Weapon." Her robotic monotone is back. What did I do?

"Aegis, are you alright?" Yukari said. "Is something wrong?"

"It is nothing, Yukari-san. Shall we go?" She stood up from my bedside. Okay, something is wrong with Aegis. I know her well enough to know that she doesn't want to leave my side. What did I do?

"I guess," Yukari said, and stood up as well.

"No, wait Aegis!" I said hurriedly. "Please stay."

"All right." She sat back down and placed her right hand near my left.

"I, uh, have things to be doing." Yukari fidgeted. She clearly didn't want to leave my side. "See you later, Makoto."

As soon as the door closed, I spoke, almost in a whisper. "Aegis. Could you make sure that Yukari isn't eavesdropping somehow?"

Aegis looked at the doorway and looked back at me. "I sense no sign that Yukari-san is at the door, or listening to us in any way. I wish to talk to you, Minato-san."

"I as well. This has been illuminating, to say the least." I tried to sit up on my bed. It was still too much of a struggle, so I flopped back onto the hard pillow. "What date is it, by the way?"

"It is the nineteenth of April." Her voice is slowly becoming more human, thankfully.

"Okay, first – how do you know my real name?" I asked her. "Everyone's been convinced that my name is Yuuki Makoto."

"Because it is your real name," she replied. "Do you need some help getting up?" She offered me her hand.

"Thanks." I took it and she helped me sit up. My neck was killing me.

"I have a question for you as well, Minato-san." Aigis was using her robotic voice on me. I wonder if she's already conscious that she's lapsing in and out of human-like speech?

"Yes?" I try moving my legs a little more. So far, centimeter by centimeter I'm regaining mobility of them. I feel like I'm trapped in my own body.

"Why… did you kill Ryoji?"

The surprise was enough to be able to move my body. I felt a lot lighter now that I could move my arms around.

"Because I felt like it."

What did I just say!?

Aegis's eyes were as wide open as they could be. For a moment I thought that I would see some of the machinery that gave life to that face. Then her face fell again.

"Why, Minato?"

I wanted to comfort her with a better answer, but it is only as shallow as that. I felt like killing Ryoji. I cannot bring myself to lie to Aegis. She can sense lies anyway. I look her in the eye and try to communicate with her, soul to tattered soul.

But…

Something, deep down, gave me a reason. I don't really know where it came from, and I'm sure it isn't the real thing, but I had to give a reason to this sad girl who has decided to stick with me and stayed with me, even through the repeat of this year.

"Because…" I looked her in the eye just as intently, and hope deep down that she doesn't think I'm lying. "He hurt you."

She looked surprised. Her pupils dilated, and she was really cute right there, caught off guard as she was. I think she was still trying to scan whether or not I was lying. I recalled how we found her a wreck on the bridge after she fought with Death for the second time, how charred bolts and nuts were scattered around the wreckage that was her body as Ryoji stood over her.

"I… Minato, that was…" Is that a blush I see?

"I know it was a stupid move on my part. But I don't like seeing you get hurt, Aegis." I'm getting better at this. I'm even imagining the butterflies in my stomach, and I'm blushing too.

"Thank you," she said. We stayed like that for a few minutes, neither of us speaking a word while she held my hand. I didn't want to let my guard down, so I kept feeling nervous and vulnerable around her. I would normally be asking whether robots can actually feel. There was no empirical method of determining whether or not someone else has a soul as far as I knew before I found out about Personae.

Aegis broke the silence. "Minato… Do you think we could correct our mistakes this time?"

I nodded, and then dragged myself to sit up on the side of the bed. "Wanna sit beside me?" I had to make a show of affection so she would stay loyal to me.

"Yes," she said, and she did just that. She leaned her head on my right shoulder as we looked out the window. The hospital had a well-manicured garden that almost glowed green in the late morning sunlight. It is said that green hues relax the eyes, so I let mine wander all over the scenery. The glossy surfaces of some leaves reflected sunlight almost perfectly, giving the impression that I was looking at

"So, do you have anything in mind? How did you get here from Yakushima anyway?" I said.

"I smuggled myself to here by staying inside a briefcase. I also brought enough ammunition and emergency energy packs to last until the full moon passed." She held onto my arm snugly. It's strange, she almost felt warm. "I fear that Ikutsuki may have been able to reprogram me into following his bidding like last time. I have been running a check on my own data and programs but I could not find any trace of tampering."

That's a possible wrench in my plans. Still. I turned towards her and patted her head. "I trust you, Aegis. You know about what happened and I know that you're human enough to prevent it from happening." At least I hope I can make her human enough.

"Thank you," she said. She looked me in the eye and suddenly, I don't know why, but I was really getting the urge to grab a chainsaw and hack her to tiny metal bits and see the latex that acts as her face shredded into unrecognizable bits.

"We need to talk about what we're going to do, and I'd rather we do it here since there is the least chance of us being spied upon." I stood up and looked around. "Can you help me check for hidden cameras or microphones?"

"Roger," she said. We spent about thirty minutes looking at the corners of the room, pulling drawers, uncovering bedpans and sheets, and peering inside flower vases. When Aegis was assured that there were no trackers in the room, we sat beside each other on the bed and talked out our strategies.

After we finished, Aegis and I walked back to the dormitory. There wasn't anyone downstairs when we got home, so we said our good nights to each other and went to bed.

When I got to my room, I sat on my desk and pulled the case of Tarot Cards out of my deck. I spread the cards on the table. They were arranged by Arcana. Swords, Cups, Wands, Pentacles, and then the Major Arcana. The card backs were blue – no, knowing Igor and the Velvet Room I should be calling it velvet blue – with a black and white mask motif on the back. There were fine brush marks on all the cards, but the cards were painted with solid colors and there were no stray colors outside the lines in which they belonged. A meticulous, masterful hand must have painted all of these. I was too in awe to use them for anything.

I also noticed that there were three cards that didn't belong. One was the Jester card, numbered 0, a duplicate of the Fool. Another one was blank – there was nothing where the painting should be, but the bottom of the card said XX. I'll have to do my research on that later. Both of these cards had the same back as the others, but their faces were trimmed with gold. It looked like authentic gold too, not just plastic over yellowish-brown that created a golden sheen. There were no brush marks on the golden parts either.

It was the third card that scared me.

I looked at it, and saw nothing, yet understood everything. The flood of information went straight to my mind without being decoded. It is quite difficult to explain something that one never learned, but just knows; in the same way that it is difficult to explain what music is to everyone if everyone were deaf. I must have stared at that card for hours, as if pleading with it to tell me more of its secrets, because I was snapped out of it by the lights going out and a green tint covering everything. At that, I decided to get some sleep. I still had school tomorrow.

* * *

AN: How am I doing with my portrayal of our hero as a psychopath? I'm sorry to say that I haven't taken extensive psychology lessons; I cannot portray every facial nuance correctly nor can I portray the inner thoughts of one such as that.

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

On the morning of April 26, I finally went to school for the first time in weeks. If anyone looked closely they could see that I had a tiny spring in my step as I walked through the gates. Aegis was at home; Ikutsuki said that he'd have the papers required for her to transfer into school by next week, which was an advantage to me…

Just as I walked past the gate, my day got worse. Mr. Hero Wannabe showed up.

"Yo, long time no see. What's up? Did you have an upset stomach or something?" Junpei said. "Anyways, I got something to tell ya."

"Wait," I said, and pulled out the deck of Tarot Cards. This'll come in handy indeed. I closed my eyes and pretended to be deep in concentration for fifteen seconds. There was plenty of time before first period. I spread the deck like a hand of cards and told Junpei to pick one.

"I got the Seven of Wands."

"Using my abilities, I, Arisato Minato, have been able to see your future," I say in my mystic's voice and using the same face I used when I told him my real name. "You… are joining the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad and are moving in to Iwatodai Dorm."

What he drew didn't matter at all, but the look I got from him as I plucked the card was priceless. I gave a smile with my eyes half-open. I then slipped the deck back into my pocket and put on headphones as I walked away from him with my hands in my pockets as he gawked at me. Through the soft music of neverending by Kalafina I could hear his loud, running footsteps.

"Dude, you're shitting me. Akihiko-senpai told you, right?" he said as he walked beside me.

"Junpei," I said as we stopped right outside our classroom. I took off my headphones and looked him in the eye. "I was hospitalized until just yesterday. I only got back at night and I didn't even see Akihiko-senpai at all. Now shush, we have class."

I sat down and waited for Mr. Ono to declare that he was bored of anything that wasn't related to the Sengoku Era. It's quite frustrating to sit through something you've already gone through…

"Quick, Makoto! What the heck is he talking about?" Junpei whispered at me.

"Tents," I answered back.

"Tents, sir!" Junpei said. Ono buried his face in his palms.

"It's not use teaching you guys if you're going to get the simplest questions wrong. Well, it'll all be fine once we hit the age of katanas."

It was so boring I could feel a hole getting carved through my brain. I lay my head on the table and slept. When I woke up, class had already ended, and I still didn't feel any good.

Oh yeah. I was supposed to get my Evoker that day. In my excitement, I headed directly to the dorm. I want to try out this alternative summoning method. Plus, it feels good to have a gun, even if it's not real. I headed directly to the fourth floor, not even bothering to sign in.

Mitsuru, Akihiko, Yukari, and Ikutsuki were already all there. I hesitated a little when I noticed that Aegis wasn't in the room.

"Ikutsuki-sensei." I gave a deep bow. "Sorry for putting you through what we all go through every time we have to summon our Personas." The deep sincerity I was expressing may get lost in translation, so just imagine that I was being as polite as a peasant talking to the King of England for stuffing his infant child in a BlendTec blender and sending them a video of me performing "Will It Blend?", right down to smiling at the camera as the screams of the child devolved into wordless anguish that was the natural ambiance of Hell.

He shrugged it off. "It's okay, Makoto-kun, I'm sure you were just agitated when we told you that Evokers entail getting shot in the head." He chuckled and opened a silver case. "Now on to business. Yukari, could you hand him the club armband please."

"Here you go," Yukari said, taking a folded piece of cloth out of her pocket. It was a red strip of cloth about a foot long, tapering at the ends. At the center was written "S.E.E.S." in blocky black letters. Black lines bordered the top and bottom of the cloth. I missed feeling it wound around my arm.

Ikutsuki turned the case toward me. Inside was my beautiful, beautiful Evoker. Engraved on the side was my real name, in Roman letters, just as I had requested.

"Aegis really likes you for some reason," Ikutsuki continued. "She engraved it herself after she heard that you had requested your alternate name on your Evoker."

Her engraving handwriting was beautiful and exact. If this wasn't her first try, then there were no marks that indicated otherwise. "Font size twelve, Garamond," I said. "Thank you, Aegis."

"You are welcome," she said in a robotic voice. She held her left elbow with her right hand, and her head bowed slightly.

"Thank you for joining S.E.E.S., Makoto-kun," Ikutsuki said. "I look forward to working with you. Oh, I almost forgot. About your room assignment – Why don't you just stay here, in your current room?"

"I planned on doing that after finding other Persona users like you guys," I said. Act the fool, act the fool, act the Fool.

"Oh," Mitsuru said. "Were you able to summon Personas without using an Evoker before?"

Oh dear.

"Makoto-san has been fighting Shadows for almost a year now," Aegis supplied. She smiled at me, and I'm not sure if it was slightly mischievous or a genuine smile at me.

"Actually," I said, and paused to imagine all of them as stupid children who will believe anything I say. "I have been fighting Shadows mostly with a short stick. It qualified as a weapon when I boarded the train, so I was forced to leave it behind. I have not been able to summon a Persona at any point in time before the day I fainted." It is a twisted version of the truth. I dislike outright lying. It makes things too easy. A sword is essentially a sharpened metal stick, right?

"Impressive! Well, we'll be expecting good results from you," Ikutsuki said. I noticed that Yukari's jaw had dropped. Man, is she that easy to string along?

"Thank you, Yuuki," Mitsuru said, and heaved a sigh.

_SMASH_

Oh it's that time of the day again.

_Thou art I… and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond…_

_Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana…_

I stifled a yawn.

"Still tired from the hospital?" Yukari said.

"A little." I stood up. My legs felt like rubber but I could force myself to keep going.

"Lemme help you to your room," she said, and stood up.

"No, I'll do it," Aegis said, walking towards me.

"It's fine, it's fine," I said. "Thanks guys, I'll be fine on my own." I walked out of the room, feeling those two girls looking at me. "I'll be getting some sleep in my room, and I suggest you all do the same. Please don't disturb me."

"Of course we wouldn't," Yukari said. Aegis nodded. I closed the door behind me.

I got downstairs and opened the door to my room. I turned the lights on. There wasn't anything proper to do it with, so I grabbed my Deus Xiphos and smashed the cameras in my room with the pommel. I took out what appeared to be the microphones and smashed them with my feet.

I was starting to feel really tired, so I lay down on my bed. It was about 11:55. If I got sleep there, I would only feel irritated when I woke up.

Four more minutes. I'm feeling really drowsy now.

Three. I have to stay up.

Two. I'll get woken up anyway.

One. Almost here…

As the Dark Hour took over and everything turned sickly green I could hear the door open.

"Aegis, is that you?" I said. My eyelids were starting to stick to each other like magnets, so I decided to shut my eyes anyway.

"Yes," she replied. Her voice had gone back to human. She sat on my bed and caressed my forehead.

Suddenly, she stood upright as if an electric current had gone through her. "Shadow detected," she said in a mechanical tone. "Death Arcana. Engaging."

I had forgotten to tell her about this! "Aegis, stand down immediately."

She cooled down. Phew. She had almost gone into Orgia mode.

"Aegis, I'm about to show you this because you are the only one here I can trust with our plans." I tried sitting up, but I was too tired, so I just opened my eyes and looked around.

"Hi, how are you?" Death said. Aegis only glared at him. He chuckled. "I see you've brought your friend."

"Yeah. I'm a little tired… Who are you again?" I turned my head towards Pharos.

"We've met before… same as with you," and he nodded at Aegis. She tensed up, trying her best to not attack Pharos while remaining civil.

"Why are you here?" Aegis said. Her hands were on her lap, ready to bring them up in case she needed to fire.

"I'm always with him." Pharos replied. He chuckled again. "Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"But –"

"Aegis, let him speak first," I said.

"Thank you, Makoto," Pharos said. "As I was saying, the end is coming. Everything will come to an end. But to be honest, I don't really know what it is."

I tried nodding, but my muscles wouldn't cooperate with me.

"Do you remember when we first met?" Pharos continued. "I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me." If he had any clue that I was going through this the second time around, then I saw no sign that he was. No mysterious smile, no smug look in his eyes. "Okay then, see you later."

With that, Pharos melted back into the darkness.

Aegis loosened up. "Minato-san, what was that?"

"Do you remember ten years ago, when you fought Death on the bridge?" I said. I closed my eyes and recalled it from the perspective of my past.

_As a kid I had always liked staying up late. I was fond of looking at stars. I didn't look at them like some bits of flashing lights on a firmament; I looked at them as they were: bright orbs of light hanging in three-dimensional space. Every time I looked up at night I looked at the universe itself from a tiny point. It made me feel small and insignificant, but it also let my mind wander and wonder. My parents only smiled at me when I told them that I felt like I was falling upwards when I looked at the night sky. My dad even bought me a good telescope to watch the stars with. I even traced Saturn's path through the night sky with him, and even he was amazed at the huge rings around it. They even bought a car with a sunroof just so I could look up whenever we traveled at night._

_It just so happened that we were indeed driving at night. Dad was moving the family to some man-made island, which sounded very cool at the time. I took the whole back seat to lie down and look up. The glass was in the way, but I didn't really mind._

_I suddenly felt warm on my right side. It took me a moment to realize that the front of our car had exploded. I sat straight up, and saw Mom and Dad. Their heads were at a completely wrong angle, though. The front of the car had been completely consumed by fire. The windshield had shattered open, and it was thanks to that that I heard the sounds of battle. A ghastly wail that would have made me faint, but I was more confused than scared. Gunfire that sounded like my Dad typing on his typewriter._

"_Mom?" I said. I shook her, and then her head fell off. Everything looked wrong. Everything had a green tint. I looked up at the sunroof. I had spent enough time looking at the night sky to know that the moon was NEVER supposed to be that big. Well, I reasoned, this is probably a dream. I opened the door and got out of the car._

_I saw a beautiful blonde girl pointing her hands at a monster in tattered black rags. She was apparently shooting using her fingertips. The monster was blocking most of her attacks with a yellow barrier, but I knew that the barrier was already giving way, and that the monster was on its last leg. Above the girl formed a woman in a gown with a gun for a head. The woman fired at the barrier and shattered it. The blonde girl closed in on the fallen monster and started shooting at it, but the monster kept getting back up._

"_Low on ammunition," the girl said in a robotic voice. The monster got up when he heard that, but the girl punched him to the ground. I stayed by the car in case Mom or Dad got back up._

_The girl was looking around for anything that could help beat the monster. She looked at me, and I nodded._

"_Emergency measures are to be taken. I shall seal Death."_

_I don't remember much after that, but I woke up in a hospital. I hate hospitals._

"Minato?" Aegis said, poking my shoulder. "Were you listening?"

I opened my eyes. "Er, actually, no… I was just too caught up remembering it."

"Then it is nothing," she said, and stroked my forehead again. A breath escaped her lips. "You have school tomorrow. Good night, Minato."

"Good night, Aegis," I said, and allowed myself to fall asleep.

* * *

I woke up to Aegis poking me on my nose. "Good morning, you have school today."

"Aegis? Did you spend the night here?" I got up and patted her on the back.

"Yes, I did," she said. She closed her eyes and leaned on me. I patted her on the head and ruffled her hair.

"In the future, though, when I call you to my room I expect you to go to yours when our business is done. The others might get suspicious."

She nodded and went back to her room. I got myself ready as well. It's going to be like this for a year again, won't it? Wake up, go to school, save the world. At least it's fun to kill Shadows. I also started teaching Aegis how to cook some food.

On the way to school, Yukari thanked me for joining S.E.E.S. She had a point though: working with Mitsuru alone made me a little uneasy too. Every time she barks an order she expects – no, she knows it will be followed just as everyone knows the sun gets up in the east.

School was boring again, so I decided to listen to some more music. _Burn My Dread_…

I was woken up from my whole-day nap by Mitsuru. "Yuuki-san! What are you doing?"

"Sleeping through the whole day of class," I replied. Hey, at least I was honest.

"Then why go to school in the first place if all you'll do here is sleep?" She had a hand on her hip and was glaring at me. I stood up and looked her in the eye.

"Trust me when I say this, Mitsuru-san. I have learned all of this before and I'm only here to make friends." Not lying. "When you see my grades on the exams you'll change your tune."

"Well…" Mitsuru said. "If you say so. But if you're that confident, Makoto, then I expect you to get top scores on the exams."

I stepped back and put my hand on my heart. "Mitsuru-sempai, you offend me. Of course I will!"

She smiled. "Well, if and only if you get top scores, I will give you a present. But anyway, back to the matter at hand. Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to everyone." She started to walk to the door. "I'll save the details for later. See you there."

I put my headphones down. "Well, she was certainly direct."

"She's probably busy with things like Student Council, unlike us." She sighed.

"Woah Yuka-tan! Do I sense some hostility?" So Junpei was listening too.

"Hey, Junpei," I said. A smirk crept its way up my face. "You remember my reading?"

"What's a reading?" he said. Then his face lightened up. "Oh! You mean that!"

"What reading?" Yukari said. Her face tried to remain passive but I know she doesn't like being left out of a conversation.

"I'll explain on the way," I said. "Let's go to Chagall."

"Er, I'm trying to save up for a new purse," Yukari said.

"Yeah, and I still have things to do. Catch you later, Makoto!" Junpei said, and grinned knowingly at me. I grinned back.

"Well then it looks like it's you and me, Yukari." I blew off the hair that was covering my eye. I know I look cheesy as pizza, but it's to make her laugh at me more than anything. "My treat."

"I'd like to, but I have Archery club today. Sorry, Makoto." And with that, she picked up her bag and left through the door.

Well I just made a fool of myself then. No doubt everyone's talking about how badly I tried to hit on Yukari now. I picked up my bag as well and went home, and arrived just before night fell.

When I got home, I took off my shoes and scrawled my name on the sign-in sheet. If handwriting was a basis for being a doctor then I would already be a brain surgeon. It's so illegible that you couldn't tell whether I wrote Arisato Minato or Yuuki Makoto. Take a guess.

I climbed up to the fourth floor command room, where Ikutsuki, Mitsuru, Yukari, Aegis, and Akihiko were already waiting.

"Welcome back," Mitsuru said when I went through the door.

"We were waiting for you. There's someone I want to introduce," Akihiko said. I took my seat on the couches there, right beside Aegis, and I put one leg on top of the other.

"Oh, who, Junpei?" I said. I wish I could drink and had a glass of red wine in my hand at that moment. I felt Ikutsuki's eyes on me.

Akihiko's jaw dropped. "How did you know?" Aegis was staying quiet about that, which is a good thing.

"Beats me." I grinned and gave a shrug. "Go ask him."

"Junpei!" Mitsuru said. She opened the door to a petrified Iori Junpei. I wasn't even looking and I could feel her icy stare at him. "I thought I told you _not_ to tell _anyone_ about you joining S.E.E.S.?"

"But – Mitsuru-sempai, I didn't tell him about anything!" Junpei was half a head taller than Mitsuru and he was still scared of her.

"Then, _pray tell_, how did he find out?" Aegis was holding her hand to her mouth at the scene.

"I-I don't know either! He just talked to me the day right after Akihiko-sempai found me during the Dark Hour and told me that he knew I was joining S.E.E.S.!" I turned back to the scene. "Aegis, could you please record this moment?" I whispered to Aegis. "Oh, and do be quiet about it."

A slight whir from within Aegis suggested that she was doing so. I tried to have a better look at Junpei's crotch. Maybe he'd have wet his pants from the fear.

I let Junpei experience terror at the hands of the Ice Queen for a bit longer, and then I whispered to Aegis again. "You can stop recording now." I then stood up.

"Mitsuru-sempai, please relax," I said. "This was all a misunderstanding. I simply knew that Junpei-kun would join S.E.E.S. because I can see into the future."

"See into the future?" Yukari said. I repressed the urge to make a sarcastic comment and said "Yes, I can see into the future. When Junpei bumped into me, looking full of energy, I asked him to draw a card from my Tarot deck." I pulled the metal case out from my right pocket and opened it. I took the three special cards out of the deck and handed the rest of the deck to Mitsuru.

"These are very well made." She put one of the cards to her forehead and closed her eyes. "That's interesting. They emit some kind of energy. I'm just not sure what it is. Yuuki-san, where did you get these?"

"From some lady," I said. Mitsuru raised her eyebrow at me. "I have no idea who she is, she just gave them to me and I thought they'd be fun to play with."

"Hm. Well, Makoto, care to prove your claims of reading the future?" Mitsuru said. She handed me back the deck and I put it back in its case and pocketed it.

"I don't need the cards for this one," I said. "I don't think it's possible to miss the huge tower that springs up from our school. You want us to explore it, don't you?"

"Correct again," Ikutsuki said. His glasses were reflecting light too well. I couldn't see his entire facial expression. "We have enough members to explore Tartarus tonight."

"Can I come?" Akihiko said.

"Not until you're recovered," Mitsuru replied. "Or do you really want to get punished that hard?"

I looked at Junpei, whose eyes and pupils had widened from that statement. Lucky for him, Mitsuru wasn't looking in his direction. That pervert.

"Akihiko will stay with me here. As you've demonstrated, Makoto-san, I have no Persona, so I will be defenseless in this dorm without someone to accompany me."

Mitsuru nodded. "Meanwhile, the rest of us will be going into the tower."

"Affirmative," Aegis said in her robotic voice.

"Woah, who's she?" Junpei said to me.

"I am Aegis. The last remaining Anti-Shadow Emergency Control Weapon. Let us commence."

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Real life is catching up to my writing… Anyway this is probably my longest chapter yet, so I hope that makes up for the four day wait.

How did you like this chapter? I'm not so proud of my writing style honestly. Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

We took the train going back to Gekkoukan High. Everyone was quiet, except for Junpei, whom Yukari had to slap in the back of the head to silence. We were sitting in a special compartment of the train so that nobody would gawk at our weapons and call the police. This had Kirijo written all over it, but I'm honestly glad. It is better we ride a train like this than get caught in, say, a mall because Junpei or some other stupid Magician Arcana personality started waving swords around. At least they had me attend to the distribution of loot.

It was five minutes to midnight when we got to the school's gates. I gave Junpei a Tobi-botaru still in its sheath, Yukari a Yoichi's Bow and a few dozen arrows, and Aegis a Pandemonium gun with about four hundred rounds. Aegis was by far the second most experienced fighter in S.E.E.S. If I had to put it in figures, Junpei and Yukari were only at 2. Akihiko was at 12. Mitsuru was at 18. Aegis was at a good 29, and I was at 74. We would tear through the shadows like a chainsaw through flesh until the barrier to the next block.

"Pretty experienced, aren't you?" Mitsuru said. She had her arms folded, accentuating her large bosoms. I should probably work on the Empress Social Link as soon as I can. I'll find a way to have her father die without implicating me; it's the only way to start it up.

"A year of fighting Shadows without using Personae, remember?" I said. I looked at my clock.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Tartarus rose from the school, piercing the undefiled night sky and tainting it and everything else with a sickly green. I hate the Dark Hour.

"Oh god! What happened to our school?" Junpei said. The way he said it reminded me of a headless chicken trying to stay calm.

"This is the nest of Shadows," I said. "Who knows what's at the top?" I led the way, walking with short, slow strides, and Aegis walked by my left flank. I found that walking the slowest in a group controlled the flow of the conversation for me. They are struggling to keep my pace in their politeness to keep talking with me, and I essentially control the rhythm.

"You can't predict it?" Yukari said.

"If you really want me to," I said, and obliged faking another trance. Mitsuru had wheeled her special motorcycle into Tartarus's lobby already, so I shooed her away from it and shuffled the cards, spiraling them with my left hand, then recompiling them into a solid deck and finally doing a shotgun shuffle.

I didn't bother to recall what most of the cards I drew were but the first card I drew was an upright Fool, the fifth an inverted Empress, the tenth an inverted Magician, and the fourteenth an inverted Chariot. The sixteenth card was most strange. I am absolutely sure that I do not have the XXIIIth Arcana in my deck, especially one a child could have drawn and labeled. But really. What was The Happy Squirrel doing there?

I tried drawing again, but then _that_ card showed up and a voice in my head practically screamed for me to stop drawing, causing me a headache. It felt like my very first Persona summoning. I collapsed to the floor like someone had pulled a rug from under my feet.

"Makoto! Are you alright?" Yukari said. When I opened my eyes I saw her extending her right hand toward me. I took it and stood up.

"Well, I'm fine. Okay here's what the cards said." I pointed at the Fool. "This is the level we're on right now."

"Why is this card the Fool?" Junpei said. "Is it implying that we're idiots?"

I resisted the urge to facepalm and pressed on. "No. The Fool stands for the beginning. This is the beginning of our exploration into Tartarus. Anything can happen here."

I don't recall what I spewed out for floors two to four. "Mitsuru, can you use your Persona to detect things upstairs?" I said. I picked up the card and handed it to her. "This might help."

She held the card and focused on scanning the floors above. "You're right!" she said, eyes wide open. "There is a great source of power on the fifth floor."

I nodded. "The rest of the Major Arcana cards indicate at which floors there are great sources of power."

"I see," Mitsuru said. She nodded. "Alright, since you know the most about the tower and its contents, you lead the team and go upstairs."

A blue – a Velvet blue, I mean – door caught my eye. Mitsuru was right in front of it. I shook my head to her command. "I can't do that for now, Mitsuru-sempai. Have Aegis lead the party." I looked at Aegis and nodded. She raised her hand and I could hear her gun cock.

Mitsuru blanched. "Well, what are you going to do, Yuuki? Stare at a wall for the rest of the Dark Hour?"

I laughed. And then I stopped laughing just as quickly. I looked her in the eye, and with a toneless voice I said "Yes. Yes I will. Keep the cards for now, you'll find them useful if you're scanning upstairs."

I walked to the door behind Mitsuru, took out the Velvet Key, and unlocked it.

Elizabeth was playing the violin and Igor was playing a cello. The music was simple, using only a few notes, but what really surprised me was the voice singing it.

_canta per me, addio_

_quel dolce suono_

_de' passati giorni_

_mi sempre rammenta_

The Archduke's voice seemed to resonate with my soul, and even though the song itself makes no sense. I sat down on the couch and Igor, smiling at me, continued to play the cello. I didn't know he was good at the cello.

_La vita dell'amore_

_O dilette del cor mio_

Ah, _la lingua de Dante_. And I have no idea what they lyrics meant.

The song kept playing _da capo _even after Igor and Elizabeth let go of their instruments and the Archduke sat down on a conjured ebony throne with red velvet cushions and looked at me. Igor and Elizabeth both looked at her and raised an eyebrow each, but if she noticed she gave no sign of it.

I coughed. "I came here to ask why a few things changed."

Igor shrugged. "Perhaps it is because you retain complete memory of the journey you have already gone through."

What I would give for a glass of something to drink. Perhaps red, but knowing the Velvet Room I would be given something in Velvet blue.

The Archduke of Contracts produced a bottle of red wine and a gold chalice. She handed it to Elizabeth, who uncorked it with her hands and poured it for her. The wine poured like fresh, dark blood. When the chalice was full the Archduke let go of it and it hung in midair. Touching the center of its base with her fingertip, she flicked it in my direction and it slowly came to a stop right before my chest.

"You've never had wine before, have you?" she said.

"No, I have not," I replied. Elizabeth was staring at me with her hands held close to her. I sipped slowly at it.

Igor gave a chuckle. "I believe you owe the Archduke about ten million yen, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth looked at me like I had just kicked her and then took out a briefcase. "Here you go," she said in a forcefully polite voice as she offered it to the Archduke.

"Thank you," the woman replied. She took the briefcase and it vanished.

"Can anyone here explain what's going on?" I said.

Igor chuckled. "Elizabeth and the Archduke had a little bet." He leaned back on his chair and placed one leg over the other. "Elizabeth also refused to believe that you had lost most of your ability as the Wild Card, while the Archduke disagreed and says that you lost it from not using it properly. Elizabeth has a point, however, given that she still has a compendium of more than half of the previous potential of your Wild Card."

"Wait, wait," I said. "How does any of this relate to me drinking a glass of wine?"

"I'm getting there," Igor said, and clasped his hands together. His legs untangled themselves and he leaned forward. "Judging by your behavior from the past year you have been the textbook definition of a psychopath. You would abide by the contract you have signed only because you do not fear the consequences whatsoever. You failed to develop your Social Links, and your Personae deteriorated. You killed Ryoji not for justice, not for what you thought was right, but because you gave not a whit for the consequences. This, Master Arisato, is the complete antithesis of the Wild Card." He was no longer smiling, and those almost perfectly circular eyes of his glared at me. Igor had always been friendly, but to see him now with that hostile aura of his was a little unnerving.

I could see Elizabeth hiding her face with the Compendium, and she was shaking. The Archduke was patting her on the back as one would a lost child. I pressed on.

"Igor, you haven't answered my question," I said. "What does drinking a glass of wine have to do with that bet?"

"It was the final proof that you had lost most of your Personas," he answered, waving his hand like he was dismissing the question. "A Persona is a mask, and any number of them knows the proper decorum on how to drink wine. You drank like a child being offered alcohol for the first time. And if you're going to give the excuse that you were testing it for anything; that is not how you test red wine." There was a blue bottle of wine and a champagne glass on the desk that wasn't there a while ago. Igor took off his right glove and pinched the cork off with a black talon, and then put his glove back on. He poured the wine into the glass – it was Velvet blue – and slowly swirled it about. He took in a sip and then laid down the glass on the table.

"This is where Madam the Archduke of Contracts comes in," he continued. "She will be calling forth the actual beings to act as your Personae while you are for the most part incapable of doing so."

"Don't worry about it too much, Yuuki Makoto," the Archduke said. "Most if not all the beings I can summon for you will definitely want to serve under you."

"Wait a minute. I thought that my soul was completely tattered." I sat up straight. "What else could they possibly want from me?"

"I told you before," she said. "Power and experience. The opportunity to learn with the guidance of one of the entire universe's strangest peculiarities."

"And that would be?" I asked, raising my right eyebrow.

"You. I shall speak no more of it." She produced a few small sheets of paper, a lancet, and a quill.

"I'm going to write – with those," I said. Not a question.

"You're not as dull as you look."

"Contracts are typically done with blood after all."

"While I am the Lord of Blood and Contract, that's just too stereotyped according to depictions of supernatural contracts in popular media," she said. "Did you sign your contract to the Velvet Room with blood?"

"No," I said.

"Good. However, I am not yet capable of giving you contracts to these other beings," she continued. Fair enough, Elizabeth didn't offer the Compendium's services this early either. "If you want to be able to summon, you will have to use your spiritual strength. You know Edogawa, yes?"

Unshaven paranormal otaku nurse? "My favorite teacher," I said.

"Meditate on each of the Major Arcana. Yes, all of them," she said. I was about to ask her if I were to include the Jester and those two other cards. "Especially that one card."

"I was meaning to ask you this, but what is up with the twenty-third Arcana?"

She grinned. "That's my way of saying that you should _take it easy!_" She said the last bit in Japanese. For a second there I thought she was wearing a white mob cap with a red ribbon with white stripes, and that her hair changed to light blue…

I could describe her, but only for that moment for she reverted to her original indescribable appearance the next.

"Now, if you want to stay in the Velvet Room for a bit longer, feel free to do so," Igor said. "But I believe that you're going to be forcefully evicted right about –"

My cheek stung and I found myself staring at the Velvet Room's door. There was the matter of Mitsuru blocking my view. I took the opportunity to stare at her chest while pretending I was disoriented.

"Wake up, Yuuki!" Mitsuru almost shouted at me. "We don't have time for you to be getting Apathy Syndrome!"

"I'm up, I'm up…" I said. I tasted my mouth a little – the aftertaste of that wine was a little strong. I decided to look at Mitsuru's eyes instead. "What happened?"

"No time to explain," she said hurriedly. "Aegis has led Takeba and Iori upstairs already. They are fighting the guardian on the fourteenth floor and they're losing. Get up there!"

How long was I out? I pushed that question out of my head and I smirked, and Mitsuru jerked away just a fraction of a centimeter. "Then I'm going," I said. I pulled the Deus Xiphos out of its sheath and ran to the teleporter. A few seconds later and I was at the floor already, where I could feel a slight breeze going through my hair and hear a fire slightly crackling.

"Physical attacks aren't working," Aegis said in a robotic tone. She summoned Pallas Athena and cast Sukukaja on Yukari. Good. I only had one Persona, and I can't stab or cut the enemy… Best to make full use of it, then!

"Orpheus!" I screamed to distract myself from the trauma of getting shot in the head. Orpheus appeared, and thanks to the magic amplification of the Deus Xiphos, I actually left the thing's chest singed when all I saw of Junpei's fire attacks were soot marks on the creature's wheel-like legs.

"Yukari! Keep healing!" I shouted. "Junpei, let's burn him down!" I raised the sword in my right hand as I kept the Evoker tightly clenched in my other.

"Now you're talking!" he said, and shot himself in the head. Hermes appeared and burned it a little.

Aegis was smart enough to just keep us agile enough to avoid the creature's spells. Little by little Junpei and I whittled down the Shadow's energy until it was on its knees. Yukari finished it off with a Garu spell, and the big Shadow collapsed head-first onto the ground, dissolving into black ichors and motes.

"I can keep going," I said. "Only two more floors to go." I swung my sword in a circle at my side to emphasize how great I felt.

"Yeah, yeah, but you only just got here," Junpei said. "We're so tired!"

"Yeah. It's like I could just lie down on the ground and go to sleep," Yukari supplied.

"I, too, am tired," Aegis said.

I nodded. "Alright. You guys go rest in the lobby. I'll finish up the last two floors."

We parted ways at the teleporter. Aegis took the others downstairs and I proceeded to take the loot without them ever seeing it. I went up the stairs.

I was walking through the hallways of Tartarus, looking for an enemy to fight. There were so few on this floor, but I managed to a gathering of Shadows and spook them into submission. It was only a bunch of Cowardly Mayas, but I would have to make do.

I waited for all four of them to approach me. A little risky but they couldn't hurt me. I let the first one scratch me on the chest. Before it could take back its hand I grabbed it with my left hand and pulled it towards my thrusting sword, and then I swung away from its body, hitting the Maya next to it. That's two down, two to go.

The next one telegraphed its move to me. I took advantage and sidestepped at the last second, then stabbed through its mask, breaking it and killing the shadow. The last one, who was already dazed by my surprise attack, faltered, so I ran to it and cut it in half.

"You have amazing potential," Mitsuru said. Like I don't know it?

I stood still again as cards appeared in my mind. It was mostly the same, however, some of the cards had weird seal-like inscriptions on them. I picked one and a card materialized in my hand.

"Hey! Hey Makoto! We need to get to the next floor quickly!"

I have only listened to one sentence, but the voice already annoys me.

"Move your legs in front of each other to walk!"

"When you see an enemy, make sure to stab it so that you have the advantage in battle!"

I ran to find the stairs to the next floor. It was a dead end, so I collected the suitcase containing the old document and left for the lobby.

"Yuuki," Mitsuru said as she heard me warp into the lobby. "We will have a talk about your attitude."

I nodded, something that could be taken in any way.

Aegis opened the door out of Tartarus and we all went back to the dorm.

* * *

AN: How did you like this one? My problem now is that school has started and I may not be able to update this as frequently as I would like. Thank you for your patience, and please please PLEASE review!


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